"So how are you going to go about her?" Kotetsu asked his friend. "You do realise that you have only four days before Ayame comes back, right?"
"I know, I know," Izumo sighed. "But I can't just go there and bluntly ask her out, can I? I don't even know her name!"
"Of course you could go there and bluntly ask her," Kotetsu corrected, smirking. "You just don't have the guts."
Izumo glared at him.
"Because I'm not a horny bastard like you," he retorted.
"Ouch," Kotetsu said, the smirk never disappearing. "At least my method works."
"You're not helping," Izumo grumbled, leaning his chin on his hands.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Look, just go there, order something and chat her up. I can cover you here."
"Really?"
Kotetsu waved his hand indifferently.
"Yeah, no biggie. Just make sure you get the girl."
"Thanks, 'Tetsu! I owe you!" Izumo yelled over his shoulder, already running towards the Ichiraku ramen stand.
"Welcome!" greeted the young woman behind the counter. Her dark hair was up and covered with a white cloth. To Izumo it seemed like her smile lit the whole world. "Take a seat! What can I get for you, sir?"
"Oh, umm," he stumbled, suddenly finding that speaking wasn't as easy as it had been only seconds ago. "I'll have the, ah, prawn ramen, please."
"Coming right up!" she chirped. Izumo watched her move with the pots and pans, admiring her as she stirred the noodles on the stove. The steam from the boiling water surrounded her, making her look softer and her eyes gleaming. Suddenly Izumo became very aware that he was completely alone with her.
"Where's the old man?" he asked, inwardly glad for something to start the conversation with.
"Teuchi-san wasn't feeling well today," she answered, her attention strictly on the food she was making. "He had to stay at home."
"Must be hard to do everything alone," he observed. She turned to him and grinned.
"Not really. It's been a quiet day. You're the first customer, sir."
"Izumo."
"I'm sorry?"
"My name. I'm Kamizuki Izumo."
She laughed, pouring his meal into a bowl.
"I'm so sorry! I'm Satsuki."
"Pretty name," he said and felt like slapping himself. Really, is that everything he could say?
"Thank you." she grinned, pushing the bowl under his nose. "Here you go, Kamizuki-san."
"Thanks."
It was quiet for a while. He slurped slowly on his ramen, and she leaned her elbows to the counter, watching him.
"Where's your friend?" she then asked. Izumo raised a brow, unable to say anything because of the noodles in his mouth. "The one with shaggy hair, a bandage over his nose and a goatee?"
He gulped down the food.
"You mean Kotetsu?" he asked, feeling already his stomach sink. Figured she would've noticed Kotetsu…
"I wouldn't know his name, but I guess that's him," she mused.
"He's on duty," he explained, finishing of his dish.
"Oh," she said. Was that disappointment on her face? He wasn't sure.
"So where do you come from?" he said quickly, desperate to change the subject. "I haven't seen you around before, so I guess you're not from Konoha."
Her face brightened again.
"I come from a little village a bit to north from here," she told him. "Ayame-san is a friend of my sister's, so I agreed to help here while she was gone."
"And do you like Konoha?" Now, depending on her answer, he might have a chance to ask her out…
"Very much so." Yes! "Too bad I'm not here for long. It'd be fun to see more of it."
"If you want, I could – "
"Where's the old man?" came the ear-splitting yell from behind him. Uzumaki Naruto had arrived, with Umino Iruka close behind him. Satsuki giggled.
"You must be Uzumaki-san, correct?" she said. "Teuchi-san has told me about you. He's ill, but I'm sure he'll be back to work in no time. I'll serve you for today. What would you like?"
Naruto plopped down next to Izumo, who glared at the blonde from the corner of his eyes. He was pretty sure his moment was lost.
"Miso!" Naruto announced, already picking up chopsticks.
"And for you, sir?" she smiled at Iruka, who returned the gesture.
"I'll have miso too, if that's alright," the teacher said.
"Coming right up!" she promised and dashed back to her cooking. Iruka sat down next to Naruto, but leaned around him to see Izumo.
"Izumo-san, how come you're here? Aren't you supposed to be at the gates with Kotetsu-san?" he asked, looking mildly surprised. Izumo muttered something unintelligible, left some money on the counter and slipped away from the stand.
"…And just as I was going to ask if she wanted a tour of the village, Naruto and Iruka bumped in there," he told Kotetsu, who was looking thoughtful and nodding.
"Well, naturally she's drawn to me, of course," he then said, flipping his hair in a ridiculously feminine way. "But don't worry, we'll get you a new chance. You just need to go there again tomorrow and try to pick up from where you left."
Izumo muttered to himself, scratching the surface of the counter with a senbon. He had a feeling in his gut that this wasn't going to work at all.
And his gut was not wrong. For the three remaining days he went to Ichiraku's to have lunch and try to ask the pretty Satsuki out. But every time there was something to stop him. Either it was Gai, who would talk loudly about youth and energy and his students, or there would suddenly be a swarm of genin to occupy Satsuki's time, or, as the case was on the last day, Teuchi, who took to standing right next to the woman while Izumo tried to talk with her. It wasn't easy to try and ask a girl out with a protective employer hanging around.
"So what's the plan today?" Kotetsu asked him, shaking him from his bitter thoughts. "Ramen and seduction again?"
"No use," Izumo said after glaring at his friend. "Ayame's back today, so she has left. No use going there. Besides I'm getting sick of ramen."
"Aww, come on!" Kotetsu whined, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "I feel like ramen today. So we'll be both going to Ichiraku's, alright?"
"Fine," Izumo sighed, giving up. Maybe he could try eating this depression away? Could one die if one ate lots of ramen? Death by eating didn't sound too bad.
There were some customers at the ramen stand when they arrived. Kotetsu got them seats and placed their order to Ayame, who smiled her familiar smile at them and passed the order to Teuchi. Izumo kept looking at the table, not in the mood of seeing the familiar kitchen without the perky girl who now officially belonged then, at least in his mind.
"Izumo," Kotetsu said.
"Hmm?"
"Izumo."
"What?" he snapped, raising his head to see his friend. But Kotetsu wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixed somewhere behind him, and Izumo swirled around to see what was so interesting.
His breathing hitched. His heart skipped a beat. He felt no control of his jaw that was hanging open.
Satsuki was holding up one of the flaps on the entrance, her lips in a wide grin and her dark eyes trained on him.
"I thought you'd be here," she said, stepping inside and letting the flap fall back to its place. Izumo couldn't say a word, nor hear Kotetsu snickering beside him. Behind him both Ayame and Teuchi were grinning. Satsuki stepped closer to him.
"So, Izumo-san," she said, eyeing him playfully. "Could you finish what you've started every day now? I think I'd like to hear it."
Kotetsu had to nudge his ribs before he realised what was going on. He snapped his jaw shut and tried to find any useful words from the bottom of his brain.
"Umm," he began, fighting to keep his thoughts coherent, "if you'd like, I could, um, show you around the village and then, maybe, take you to eat something?"
She smiled a happy, close-eyes smile.
"That'd be very nice, Izumo-san," she said, reaching down for his hand. He barely comprehended what had happened, but he registered that her hand felt very nice around his. "Let's go. I want to see the Hokage Mountain. And then we'll eat." She started dragging him outside. "But not ramen, I guess you must be fed up with ramen by now. Maybe dango?"
"S-sound good," he stuttered. Then something popped up in his mind and he turned to yell: "Kotetsu! What about our shift?"
"I'll cover for you!" his friend's voice called after him. "Just enjoy your date!"
Yeah, Izumo thought, glancing at the girl next to him, chattering away. I think I will.
A/N: I really need a better title. It'll change as soon as I can think of something else. Suggestions are welcome.
